(Photo by Colton McKee, coltonmckeephotography.com) 

Truman Bartman | themavericks.ca

As the 2026 WCBL regular season reaches its final few weeks, the Weyburn Beavers and Medicine Hat Mavericks get set to face off in a pivotal two-game series beginning tonight. Each team heads into the weekend coming off of losses in their previous matchups and is as tight as it gets in the Eastern Division standings.

Despite having similar records, the Beavers’ and Mavs’ paths to being in a fight for a playoff spot are quite different. 

Starting the season with high expectations after an impressive 2025 regular season and playoff birth, the Mavericks have struggled to find consistency this summer. Holding an 18-27 record through their 45 games, the Mavs have yet to find the .500 mark as the season has gone along. 

On a positive note, the Mavericks are still very much in the fight and have brought in a few reinforcements to help in their playoff push. Outfielder Jalen King and two-way option Adam Wilmore joined the Mavs this week and have already seen action when Medicine Hat visited Moose Jaw.

King made the trip up north from his hometown of Spokane, Washington, to reunite with his college coach, Ryan Reed. King is very familiar with many of his Mavericks teammates as well, as he becomes the 5th Mid-America Christian member to join the team. 

As for Wilmore, he also rejoins many of his Doane University counterparts, as he spent the 2025 NAIA season playing alongside Carter Roth, Johnny Vulcano, and Adam Vulcano. Their group has already had success as a unit, qualifying for the NAIA World Series in the spring.

In conjunction with Medicine Hat’s recent moves, the Weyburn Beavers have also added to their squad in hopes of making a run down the stretch. Ryan Muizelaar and Noah Brooks, who spent 2025 with the Beavers, are back again to close out 2026 as they look to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their illustrious careers. 

For Muizelaar, he spent all three of his previous years with Weyburn, making two All-Star appearances in both 2023 and 2024. Brooks, on the other hand, began his WCBL tenure with the Edmonton Prospects in 2024 before making the move to Weyburn in 2025. During his two years in the league, Brooks has made a pair of All-Star Games and is one of the few WCBL players to represent both the Eastern Division and Western Division at the midsummer classic.

The Beavers are going all in as they pursue a playoff birth for the first time since before the pandemic. It’s the opposite approach for Medicine Hat, who look to keep their long playoff streak intact. Two very different backgrounds, one playoff spot available as the Weyburn Beavers and Medicine Hat Mavericks embark on a vital two-game series beginning this evening.